Trevor Ward

What can be done to make cycling safer for the next generation of road users? Let’s start with some Bikeability lessons…

Why can’t we all just get along? Trevor relays his experiences as a Bikeability instructor to ponder how we can make the roads a safer environment for the next generation of cyclists

The glorious sport of cycling extends all the way from epic stage races across snowcapped mountains to Mrs Mcgregor pootling home from the shops with a wicker basket full of groceries. And while I personally have more respect for Mrs Mcgregor than I do the weekend warriors exchanging fist bump emojis in a frenzy of mutual adulation on

Strava, I acknowledge we are all united by our use of the bicycle, whether it be for utilitarian, recreational or competitive reasons.

I even have a grudging respect for those self-appointed helmet camera vigilantes who celebrate the number of drivers they manage to get prosecuted the same way a sniper puts notches on his gun. They may care more about the number of views their Youtube channels get than actually making our roads safer, but at least they are doing their Robocop impressions on bicycles rather than anything more polluting or congesting.

Meanwhile every week at the grassroots of our sport – and by ‘sport’ I mean ‘activity’ rather than racing, Everesting, time-trialling, Zwifting, audaxing, etc – the next generation is taking its first pedal strokes towards what will hopefully become a lifelong love affair with riding a bike. As a Bikeability instructor my job is to teach them how to ride a bicycle safely on public roads (having first practised in the playground with a load of coloured cones).

Having escorted several hundred primary school-age children to successful attainment of their Bikeability certificates in recent years, I’ve come to re-evaluate my own attitude to cycling. The major conclusion I’ve reached is that our obsession with ‘cycling infrastructure’ is a red herring. If all road-users showed each other a bit more respect and patience we wouldn’t need to segregate one lot from the other.

Roads, as I regularly remind my kids, were originally built by the Romans for their marching legions. Then came horses and carriages. Then, at the end of the 19th century, came that most wondrous invention, the bicycle. It was only at the start of the next century that cyclists began having to share road space with the infernal combustion engine. This isn’t the place to recount a history of the tyranny of the motor vehicle, however.

When I’m teaching kids how to execute a right turn from a ‘major to minor’ on a quiet suburban estate, I’m struck by something far more basic – how our choice of transport transforms road users into a petty, squabbling hierarchy. My young charges are inevitably worried by all these big vehicles charging along in such close proximity. It’s my job to remind them that, as long as they communicate their intentions to other road users in a correct and timely manner, they have every right to do what they’re doing where they’re doing it.

Frustratingly, many of their parents won’t let them ride their bikes to school, preferring to drive them instead. Why? ‘There’s too much traffic,’ is the reply, without the faintest hint of irony. If we could address this catch-22 there would be no need for infrastructure. If everyone knew their responsibilities while using the public highway there would be no need for bike lanes.

Naively idealistic? Not necessarily. Here at the grassroots of cycling tuition I see the opportunity for revolution, not just revelation.

One forward-thinking head teacher wanted to run a ‘bike bus’, a convoy of pupils escorted by parents along a set route. I contacted the local cycling club to see if they could help. Despite many of their members being parents, they couldn’t. Or wouldn’t (those ‘weekend warriors swapping fist bumps on Strava’ again.)

But all it needs is a couple of like-minded parents and teachers. There is plenty of information available from organisers of bike buses in the UK (there’s also a guide available from the Cycling Scotland website).

Another idea that’s beyond the Bikeability remit would rely on the same cumbersome political goodwill that has made infrastructure such a Holy Grail – making cycling awareness a compulsory part of driving lessons. A learner driver having to ride a bike for an hour or two would not only get the full ‘vulnerable road user’ experience, they’d also get a graphic reinforcement of why things like observation, signalling and gears are so critical.

The best paid and most skilful bike riders in the world are currently hibernating. It’s a good time to turn attention to our own welfare and that of the next generation of cyclists.